Latest / The Action Catalyst / REMASTERED: Putting Feet to Vision, with Jenni Catron (Mindset, Leadership, Personal Development, Self-Improvement)

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REMASTERED: Putting Feet to Vision, with Jenni Catron (Mindset, Leadership, Personal Development, Self-Improvement) · The Action Catalyst

• 0:19
  Host: Jenni Catron has a knack and a love and a passion for
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  putting feet to vision, as she says, and making vision reality.
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  She has had this book, and I've known about it for several
• 0:30
  months, called Clout, discover and unleash your God given
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  influence. So without further ado, please help me welcome the
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  one and only miss Jenni Catron, Jenni, thanks so much for being
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  with us.
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  Jenni Catron: Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to
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  share a little bit more about the book. Thank you so much.
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  This is awesome.
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  Host: You know, why did you write this book? Like, where did
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  the idea come from? How did you get started?
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  Jenni Catron: Yeah, yeah. You know, I've always been a
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  leadership junkie. Like, I don't know that even as a kid, I knew
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  how to what the word was, but I knew what leadership looked
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  like, and it was something that I was really drawn to. So, you
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  know, so I think just my whole life, I've kind of aspired to
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  understanding leadership and what helps leaders tick, and,
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  you know, how we influence others, and what that looks
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  like. And so this book, clout really is, is a lot of my heart
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  kind of in written form of like the things that I wished I had
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  known as a leader earlier on that so maybe that I wouldn't
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  have misstepped, you know, in some certain ways along the way
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  and clout, discover and unleash your God. Given influence is
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  just that idea that leadership begins with influence. You know,
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  I think John Maxwell is quoted with saying, leadership is
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  influence, nothing more, nothing less. And I'll often push back
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  on that a little bit to go. I think leadership starts with
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  influence, but how we steward that influence impacts what how
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  we're able to really live out our leadership. So, you know? So
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  this was, to me, was, well, what is the core of influence look
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  like? So if leadership starts with influence, what does it
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  mean to really develop that influence, develop that clout,
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  if you will, that gives us the platform to lead from. And so
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  this was kind of a journey for me of saying, You know what, I
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  see a lot of things in my life that are holding me back or
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  hindering me, tripping me up from really being the leader I
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  should be. And you know, we talk about those in the book, I call
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  them the clout killers, but then also going, okay, so what do we
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  do with that? Like, how do we really cultivate our influence?
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  How do we cultivate our clout in such a way that we can allow
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  that sphere of influence that we've been given to impact
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  others, to really allow that to thrive and for that to shine? So
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  that's the heart and the spirit behind the book.
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  Host: And the seven clout killers, as you call them, are
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  really transformational, and they're very real, and they're
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  things that leaders don't even like to admit, that they
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  struggle with.
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  Jenni Catron: Yeah, yeah, I think you don't, and that's the
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  truth. And it's really the thing that stuck out with all of the
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  clout killers, for me, is, you know, what are the things that I
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  don't want to admit are there? But we all know that when we
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  just keep stuffing something we we really aren't dealing with
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  it. It's, it's, it's affecting us, whether we're recognizing it
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  or not. And so what I found is I was kind of doing my research
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  for the book, and, you know, my personal stories, stories from
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  my leadership, other leaders that I kind of studied, I
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  discovered that this fear issue was really almost kind of the
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  root. I call it the front runner of all the clout killers. It's
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  like fear triggers all these other things. So I fear that I'm
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  not enough. So I deal with jealousy if you're not having
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  enough. So I'm deal with scarcity. I fear that I'm not
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  good enough. So I live with insecurity. Like you see how
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  just these fear, this fear of different things, impacts our
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  influence and our our leadership in different ways. So it's
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  really the when I boiled down like anything, like I'm maybe
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  not engaging, there's usually some fear behind it, like, I
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  fear chaos, so I grapple for control. And I think a lot of us
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  as leaders, you know, we like to kind of get a good handle on our
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  situations, and like to be able to control our world. And
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  really, that's the fear of chaos, you know. So just so many
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  of these different issues, there's just kind of an
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  underlying fear all the time of, Am I enough, you know, and and I
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  think when we kind of just are willing to acknowledge that,
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  then we position ourselves to be able to grow from it and learn
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  from it. You know, fear kind of impacts you in different ways.
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  Sometimes it causes us to hide, sometimes it causes us to
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  isolate ourselves and kind of close ourselves off, and then
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  sometimes it just paralyzes us, which, I think for a lot of us
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  as leaders, it just paralyzes us, you know, I think you've got
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  to exchange that fear for what's true, you know? And I think
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  there's a, there's an old quote, I don't know that I actually
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  used it in the book, but you know, what's the, what's the
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  stat of how, how many of the fears we we have actually don't
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  happen, right? Like you, we've all heard of that. Of you know,
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  how many fears that we have actually don't happen. And the
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  thing that struck up, stuck out to me when I was studying this
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  and actually looking at some scripture for just biblical
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  foundation for this, was that, you know, I think a lot of times
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  we want to, we want to believe that we just are going to
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  overcome fear and. We're never going to face fear. And over and
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  over in Scripture, like when the biblical characters would face
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  fear, God would he would say, Do not fear. But he didn't say, Do
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  not fear because being fearful is stupid. He said, Do not fear
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  because he had a response for this. He had a way he was going
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  to handle this, that he was there. He was the great reward
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  I'm with you. Like over and over, when a leader was dealing
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  with fear, God was responding with how he was there to help
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  lead them through that. And so I think you know, when we're
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  confronting fear, so if you're a person to say, you know, there's
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  a lot of biblical truth that we can kind of hold on to, to
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  suggest that God is with us through this. And you know, even
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  if you're not a person of faith, there's still truth behind
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  things that sometimes we allow those fears to convince us of.
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  You know, we kind of just spin off into all the worst case
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  scenarios. And when you stop and you go, Okay, what's the worst
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  thing that's going to happen? What's the real truth of if the
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  worst thing happened? What's What does that mean? So it's
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  kind of that idea of exchanging that fear for just what's true,
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  just getting rational for a minute. Because what does fear
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  do? It makes us irrational. You know, most of the time.
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  Host: So now the next one is a comparison. And this one, I
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  think, is so acute. Why is it a clout killer?
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  Jenni Catron: Yeah, you know. And I think comparison, it's
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  almost natural, you know, like we are kind of wired to just
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  compare everything from the time we're born like our we, you
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  know, we are. We get the Growth Percentile chart, things you
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  know that tell us how we're stacking up to the rest of, you
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  know, kids in our age group. And I think our culture just
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  conditions us to compare ourselves to everyone else. But
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  the danger in that is that, and this is kind of the spirit of
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  this whole book. The danger in that is that I believe that God
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  has given us, like, this unique sphere of influence, this unique
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  set of gifts, talents, experiences and opportunities
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  that no one else has your specific like, mix of those
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  things, right? And so when we compare, you know, I'm not ever
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  going to be you. I'm not ever going to be able to lead the way
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  you lead to, you know, encourage people the way you encourage
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  people to inspire people like I'm not wired exactly like you.
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  We might have some things that overlap. We have a lot of things
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  that we enjoy, but if I try to be you, that I'm going to
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  sabotage the thing that makes me me. And so, you know, I think
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  that comparison thing, I think we're just so naturally wired by
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  society to give into it, that we don't even realize that we're
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  doing it. And what, what I feel like we do on that is we miss
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  really cultivating and developing the the influence we
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  have. You know, in trying to mimic somebody else, we actually
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  sabotage our own growth.
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  Host: What's the difference between comparison and jealousy?
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  Because those two kind of seem to maybe dovetail or be related.
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  Jenni Catron: Yeah they do kind of dovetail. And I think, you
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  know, comparison is I can look at what somebody else is doing,
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  and I can, like, try to be that jealousy, like it, like it gets
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  to that icky place where I, you know, now I'm like, I'm really,
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  like, striving and working towards, you know, being jealous
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  or envious of what somebody else is doing. So it really kind of
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  makes it about trying to almost sabotage the other person. Like
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  jealousy kind of takes that nasty twist of, you know, I say
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  it's kind of like a cancer that eats, eats away at everything
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  that's good in our relationship. So jealousy takes that to Okay,
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  now you're my enemy, because I'm jealous of what you've
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  accomplished. Now it's not that I've just compared myself and
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  I've tried to mimic you now. It's that, oh, you're now my
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  enemy, because I want to be like you, and I see where our gaps
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  are different, and so I'm going to start being jealous of that,
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  and it's going to start eroding the relationship component. You
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  start that comparison, and then it turns into and I, at one
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  point, I talk about jealousy is kind of the irrational fear of
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  losing something or someone valuable to you, you know. So
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  it's that all of a sudden it becomes a competition, you know,
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  and it becomes and that's where fear kind of mixes into the
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  whole equation. And, yeah, jealousy just goes to kind of
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  that ugly place of, now you're my enemy rather than somebody
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  I'm celebrating because of you stewarding your God given
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  influence.
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  Host: So scarcity is the fourth one?
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  Jenni Catron: Yeah, yeah. I think, you know, this was one of
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  the ones that kind of snuck up on me and surprised me as a
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  leader. And I think, you know, I grew up kind of in a, you know,
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  just, uh, you know, lower middle class family. So we had, you
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  know, we struggled to make ends meet some days, you know, sure.
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  And but in that there were some good things that I learned in
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  just, you know, being frugal and making sure I manage my money
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  well. And, you know, so there were certainly some really good
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  principles that came from that. But what it did is it taught me
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  to kind of hoard a little bit more than normal, and not just
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  resources. It kind of, you know, it just was this overarching
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  tendency to just be scarce with everything, because there's kind
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  of this underlying fear that there's not enough, you know. So
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  when you grow up, and so a lot of us, I think, come by that
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  scarcity mentality honestly, you know, maybe so I didn't I grew
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  up in a home that didn't have just a lot of resources. So I
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  can be scarce with resources, but maybe somebody grew up in a
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  home where there wasn't a lot of love given. Our show. And so
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  you, you, you, you don't even realize it, because it's just
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  the culture you came from. But you can hoard, you know, just a
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  affirmation and really loving and serving others well. And so
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  I think, you know, we have to kind of look at that and go, is
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  there a place in my leadership where I have a tendency to
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  hoard? So another one where I think this shows up a lot is,
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  you know, if you're a leader in your position for influence, you
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  know, are you taking all of those opportunities for the
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  spotlight, or, you know, to bring the idea to the table and
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  or are you, you know, really empowering other staff to be the
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  ones to share that or to bring that up, or to to get the
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  spotlight, or, you know, so I think that's where you see it
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  happen a lot in leadership, is that we're not quick to give the
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  praise or the the attention to other leaders around us.
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  Host: And the next one is insecurity. And these are
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  definitely connected.
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  Jenni Catron: Yeah, you know. And this is the one that none of
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  us want to admit, right? It's there, and it's, you know, that
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  it, and I describe it as a perpetual lack of confidence,
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  you know. And I think we can all relate to that. But the problem
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  is, when we kind of live in that perpetual lack of confidence, it
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  is impacting everyone else around us. And so, you know, I
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  think you've got to be willing to identify that and realize
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  where insecurity is kind of holding you back from living
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  out, you know, living out your influence in a healthy in a
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  healthy way. It's a biggie, and it can show up a lot of
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  different ways, you know. And I think we cover it up in a lot of
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  ways.
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  Host: So pride, pride is the sixth. So we've got fear,
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  comparison, jealousy, scarcity, insecurity. And I know that
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  pride is often a sign of people who are covering up something
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  else.
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  Jenni Catron: Yep. In the book talking about pride, you know,
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  the like the Webster's definition is in inordinate self
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  esteem, or excessive confidence in oneself. And when I started
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  to unpack this and look at other leaders and myself, and you
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  know, see where pride shows up, it's really the illusion of
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  excessive self esteem, you know. So that goes back to that
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  insecurity piece of that. You know, as leaders, rarely are we
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  just really that prideful. We're actually lacking some self
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  esteem, and so we're trying to project that we have something
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  that we don't actually have. So it's kind of like pride and
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  insecurity end up this big ball of mess where prides trying to
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  cover up, it just all becomes one big jumbled mess that we're
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  trying to untangle.
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  Host: That's huge. Well, the last one is control.
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  Jenni Catron: That's a funny one, because as leaders, we're,
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  we're so driven, right? And, you know, we have such a drive that
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  kind of pushes us and we and we step into, you know, moments
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  where leadership is necessary. So we are kind of known for
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  being the ones to take control when control is me, you know,
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  when that's necessary. But there's kind of a dark side to
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  it, where, when it's, you know, there's a lot of conversations
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  about the importance of servant leadership, and that as leaders,
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  we have to recognize that it's our job to help others shine.
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  And so when you see control creeping in, it's when you're
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  really longing for power, rather than like longing for influence.
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  And I think that's a real distinction that's important in
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  that, you know, this longing for power is an indicator that we're
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  not content with the influence we're given. So if we're trying
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  to, you know, manufacture control of a situation I often
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  talk about like the idea of, you know, we've been given this
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  influence, our leadership, our clout, and it's kind of placed
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  in our hands as this thing we're responsible to, kind of care,
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  take, to steward. But I'm one of those people who loves control.
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  So what do I do? I kind of curl my fingers around it, and I kind
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  of put a death grip on it and try to manipulate and control
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  everything, you know, and what happens? You're squeezing the
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  life out of it rather than letting it grow and develop. And
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  so I think we have to look for that tension in ourself as
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  leaders. Is, when am I, you know, being responsible for the
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  influence I have and I'm gently, kind of blood, guiding it and
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  directing it, or when am I trying to, like, manipulate it
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  and control it? And I mean, you're going to be the best Gage
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  for yourself on when you're doing those things and when it's
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  it's moving to control rather than influence, if that makes
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  sense. But there's a real dance there, because as leaders, we do
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  need to step up and actually lead. But that can cross the
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  line into, you know, controlling, obsessive control
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  if we're not careful.
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  Host: Wow. Well, Jenni Catron, folks, you can check her out.
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  Jennicatron.com, Jenni, thank you for being with us. Thank you
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  for your wisdom. Thank you for what you do as a leader. And we
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  wish you all the best.
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  Jenni Catron: Thank you so much. It was wonderful to talk this
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  through with you, and I appreciate the conversation.
• 14:41
  Thank you.